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Friday, 31 August 2007

I've been doing some sorting through boxes and found 3 tubs of waxy 'things' which made me think of the piece above, not that my things were like that. Anyone whose spent time playing with melted wax will appreciate the work that must have gone into this sculptural jewellery by Ana Claudia Crisan at the RCA 2006 summer show. My lack of time on the computer means I've no idea what was in the 2007 show.

Monday, 27 August 2007

I peeked at a few loved blogs yesterday.I just had to, and as I suspected I got sucked in and lost half a day. It was so nice to catch up on lives and photo's. Anna was (naturally) baking. Always the experimenter she was making grapefruit cake which looked really really good. Also making food was Vanessa, crepes, my mouth was watering and I had to scoff huge quantities of rice cakes. Lisa S was making, or rather selling, letterpress prints based on her gorgeous dreaming bed piece she did for Camilla. It looks SO fantastic letterpressed, the ink is embossed (or maybe it's debossed?) into the paper adding a whole new dimention to work that I already loved beyond words. $45 and you can have your own bit of Lisa on your wall. I wish I had time to visit more of you, but I really need to get more essentials done before justifying the treat of looking.

I made a mistake setting the levels on this image but loved how it made the house blue though the original was creamy. These were a few weeks ago, one sunny day when I chose my moment carefully so we could walk without getting rained on. I chose wrong, we got soaked, here it is approaching while we are 10 mins from home. I love when you have the dark clouds but the foreground is still in glorious sunlight. Had to shelter under a tree for 20mins till it stopped.

Friday, 24 August 2007

The sun is shining in Mr P's kitchen window for a 3rd day and they say it will last all weekend! Outside the window is a large Buddleia, usually teaming with butterflies. Due to the soaking summer only one butterfly seems to have survived. I hope it finds a girlfriend so there'll be more next year.

Another flood related loss seems to be carrots, which may explain the sudden and mysterious disappearance of the tastiest new-ish drink by those wonderful folks at Innocent. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Innocent Smoothies and drinks. Not that I can afford them, but I use a little to pep up my own blends so I get more variety into them and don't get bored and go over to the dark side (chocolate). Their carroty drink was the best shop bought fruit/veg drink I've ever tasted, so sweet and refreshing. We bought it twice and have never seen it since. Till the next crop of carrots I'm enjoying Innocent Superfoods - Natural Detox which we tried when K was staying. It's yummy. Now I realise they are not organic, but they are a good company, I like how they work and I hope that as they grow they will add organic to the range. This page shows what their packaging is made from and how to recycle it. And they don't air freight their fruit.

I took a load of photo's in Edinburgh recently that I forgot about till yesterday, these were among them, taken on a cloudy evening. Imagine how bright this looks on a sunny day...

I may or may not blog over the weekend, I'm planning to get a lot done while we have no rain (so much DIY has been delayed it's scary). Goodness knows what state my muscles will be by Monday (Camilla, I never did have that bath, I was too tired to even move). For those sharing our weather, enjoy it as much as you can, even if it's just letting the light and fresh air into your home.

Great details on the intense green trunk of this tree. They are so characterful, like the eyes on a chameleon, I kept expecting them to move. The bottom one is like the snout on a mole.

New fence is finished, not the private perfection they promised but it's live-able with. The biggest difference is noise, the hedge was like a huge 5ft deep quilt absorbing sound from every direction. Project plant growth must commence immediately. The cat is very freaked by it all too, all his quiet places, hidey holes, rain shelter, sunny sleeping spots and toilet have all gone and in their place are men with chainsaws. Sorry if this is all a bit dull, I've turned the blog into a bit of a diary to compensate for my increasing and freaky loss of memory.

Wednesday, 22 August 2007

The hedge is gone :0(But the new fence is pretty good compared to what was originally proposed. It's a good height and there is enough soil to get some nice thing growing up it over time. Till then, we shall just have to appreciate the birds further afield in places with huge cones and lovely grasses.

Monday, 20 August 2007

Sheila- thanks so much for letting me know the sad news about Audrey which gave me the chance to send my love to Alicia and Andy.

Julie- I've not been blog reading but it sounds like you're home, I couldn't remember when you were returning but I must catch up soon.

Hedge update. They turned up 1st thing this morning (a day early) and have started to cut the hedge. Our hard work was not entirely in vain, it made it clear that it would be practical for them to leave a foot of soil on Mr P's side for planting. And, thanks to some frantic sawing by me (this body is wrecked know) during their lunch break, I was able to convince them to re-align the end of his new fence with my existing fence, thus saving our little shortcut and making a much neater solution for all 3 households. Phew. We have also saved one skinny lone tree from the hedge because it had grown on my side of the fence, so at least one pair of birds can still nest in the top next year.

Sunday, 19 August 2007

In response to your concerns...We have tried everything we could think of to convince them not to cut the hedge, not least because it is home to so many nesting birds and is an incredible wind and sound barrier. But this is the downside of living in a mobile home, the home is yours, but the land isn't.

When they knocked down the long retro caravan next door we assumed they would build a single home in it's place as it's a small plot. But someone decided that if they got rid of the hedge and pinched some of Mr P's garden they could fit a double home on it (more ground rent money from a double) and they just won't back down.

We are daft to think we can change their minds but in a last desperate attempt we have been out in the rain for 10 hours (!!!) stripping the hedge back to spindly sticks with some green on the top. Our hope is that they will see there is space for the new home to fit but still a little green up top for the birds to nest in. It's extremely unlikely they will even consider it, but at least we will know we did everything we could. Mr P has taken 4 car fulls of hedge bits away and the car seats are now covered in snail slime and spiders. Our bodies are filthy, sore and soaked to the bone. Fingers crossed it will make a difference.

Joy, a few hours have passed since I wrote that and I've been fed, watered and had a bath to ease the muscles. It's so good when you get what you need in life. I will let you know what happens with the hedge on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Saturday, 18 August 2007

Katherine, since you liked the bunny, here are the shots that I planned to use for the card to go with them, but never quite got organised enough to do on time.

"Hmm, what's this for?"

"Aha!"

My plan for sleep has been thwarted. I have in the rain for hours supervising a huge garden and shed clear-out because we were informed yesterday that 'the men' are coming on Tuesday to erect a fence in Mr P's garden prior to chopping down his entire hedge!

The hedge was a key main selling point when he bought the house because it was evergreen and gave him a totally private back garden. With the hedge gone the new house being built will look directly into the garden, kitchen and both bedrooms. It will also look into the only private part of my garden and in one side of my house. We are not happy bunnies.

Roses outside an Edinburgh flat

They're also taking away a metre of his garden and erecting the new fence right up against the patio where there is no soil to put any plants in, unless he digs up his patio (which he won't). Worst of all is that we will lose the little secret passage that joins our gardens together. It's possibly the best thing I have ever made and it meant we could nip between gardens in 10 seconds without going out onto the main road and round the corner (we live on different streets but our gardens back onto each other).

I made a cute little fence for it a few years ago and trimmed the hedge to make space for a small path through. It has been a boon, especially when we have friends over as they tend to go back and forth between the two gardens/houses. If the rain stops on Monday I will take a photo to show before they remove it.Lovely garage door in Edinburgh

Friday, 17 August 2007

They say we'll get tons of rain over the weekend so I plan to get some serious sleep in. This was the only sleep related picture I could find, Lumpy Lapin, a woolly rabbit I made for a friends baby. I'm going to get tucked up under the covers like a tired bunny and not come out till the rain stops. Wishing all of you a more seasonal weekend.

Thursday, 16 August 2007

Last Friday I think. Mr P was free for a few hours and I was still riding (comparatively) high on the oomph from K's visit that I thought we could maybe take Lucy to the beach. Regular readers will know how I've been desperate to get to a beach for over a year but my damn health has thwarted every attempt. I was so determined to make it this time but within 10mins of getting things ready and collecting Lucy it was clear that I was already knackered and wouldn't manage the Yellowcraigs trip. I was so bummed till I realised we could go to Crammond instead. Yey for Crammond.

Lightened this so you could see her, the clouds were much darker.

Not the long sandy beach of my dreams, but only 25 mins by car and at least it has water and some sand. Heavy rain threatened constantly but as it never actually dropped on us we were able to enjoy the moody skies it brought as it approached. Looking East down the Firth of Forth...

Apparently Lucy likes to drink sea water, eat seaweed and then throw up at L's house the next day so L had asked that we not let her go in the water. I thought it would be difficult (she LOVES water) but there were so many doggy smells all over the beach she seemed very content wandering around snuffling at rocks and grasses while we sat on a log watching the world's maddest spaniel chase gulls through the water non-stop for about 40 minutes. Seriously, it literally did not stop running and when it passed us again later it was still doing it, full speed, soaking wet, happy as can be. It seemed to nicely balance out my own lack of motion.

Funny how things change. I was that spaniel for years, doing everything super fast, bundles of energy. When I went to school I walked so fast that the boys used to make a passing racing car noise as I overtook them- Neeeeeauw. The spaniel wasn't alone, it's owner had another older spaniel as well, he had a dodgy leg and plodded very slowly and carefully around the rocks on the beach. I never realised at the time that the dogs were the before and after of me. But I still have hope that I'll be a mad spaniel again, or something in between. Yes, in between is more sensible.

Wednesday, 15 August 2007

The day after K left was a real roaster, having not been out with lovely Lucy (Mr P had been taking her) I was amazed to discover the barley field had turned golden with just 2 days of decent sun...

Lucy looks North at the view over to Edinburgh with Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Craggs looking very small in the distance...

head down, bottom in the air

I wish K could have stayed one more day as it was the perfect day for gathering berries in the hedges to make a pie. And gathering fallen Beech twigs for a little fire in the garden to cook the veggie haggis that I forgot I had in the fridge for her. I've been finding food all week that I forgot I had bought. I'd had such plans for making nice things but due to a last minute burning desire to transform Mr P's kitchen (I am always like this before someone comes to stay) I lost my cooking mojo because it felt like I was in someone else's kitchen. I'm settling into it now and getting used to almost everything finally having somewhere to go. Still need to put up shelves but that will wait till the next adrenalin surge/visitor.

you can only just see Lucy in the left groove

Did I mention my dodgy memory recently? I'm forgetting all kinds of things, large and small, mainly words and such, but also more important things like the fact that I have a pot on the gas stove. Have done it twice in two weeks, fortunately both times turned out ok. 1st time I remembered and we drove home fast. 2nd time K was in the house and smelled the burning when she got out the shower. I mention this by way of saying if you think I've forgotten something feel free to remind me cause my brain has given up trying to remember anything beyond what I need to do in the next 12 hours.

Tuesday, 14 August 2007

Monday, 13 August 2007

Still taking this gently but realised I was neglecting the blog so some more pics from our trip to Inchcolm Island last week. The dull wet weather over the last few days has been leaving even the perkiest of people feeling a bit tired but today the sun is shining between the rain bringing much needed light and warmth. I feel a bit desolate about the almost total lack of summery-ness. It's such a key top up to the body and mind that makes getting through winter more bearable. I'm struggling with the realisation that the nights are getting darker and we only had 2 nights where the cloud lifted enough to appreciate the light in July.

It makes me glad I pushed myself during K's visit. I knew it would wipe me out long term, but I saw it as my opportunity to have a few days of 'holiday' even though I was at home and she was the traveller. I did all the things I do for a proper holiday, visit 'places of interest' - Roslin Chapel, Inchcolm Island and Habitat (it had to be done, though no purchases were made). I bought outrageous quantities of different fruits for us to munch on, used non-recycled toilet paper for a few days (wild crazy woman that I am! but oh, it was so comparatively soft I felt like I was in a hotel), I even flushed the toilet after each use - so decadent, though given our water situation I didn't actually feel guilty for a change.

It felt good to live like I wasn't poor for a few days. I'm particularly proud of myself for not breaking the allergy diet during the whole time, even though there were Tunnock's Tea Cakes and a box of Border Dark Chocolate Gingers (biscuits) tempting me daily. If you've never had a Choc Ginger Biccy this review would tempt you to buy, they are incredibly tasty. Instead I treated myself to the oft mentioned Ginger Cake, which is pretty much as good a treat.

I'm still not blog reading, hard to believe isn't it! If any of you have had birthdays, blogiversaries, births or other celebratory events while I've been absent then please accept my good wishes, felicitations, congratulations and any other 'ations' that seem fitting.

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Me, M.E. and Gardening

I still have M.E/CFS so my walking life & most of my creative endeavours are on hold and even the garden has had to mostly look after itself since 2013 but previous years of good planning mean it does pretty well and the birds, bees, hedgehogs and other creatures here prefer a slightly unkempt space. I photograph it when I can in order to capture it's changing delights.